About Us

Sunday, March 31, 2019

From a picture taken by Jasmine Dawn. Somehow my Shiba Inu avatar glitched in her viewer, leaving me looking like I "crashed eyes wide-open into a beehive." But a more likely reason was coming upon "what was seen cannot be unseen."

Friday, March 29, 2019

For several years, Second Life allowed everyone to chose from a list of thousands of last names with their choice of first name. It was without cost and without limit, as many if not most created alts over time who also had the same right or opportunity.

Then suddenly about eight years ago, they decided everyone should henceforth joining should be deemed "Resident." This did two things. It made newcomers feel and look inferior, and it effectively created a permanent "Newbie" class of avatars.

They recently proposed bringing back last names, but only if people paid. This is highly unfair, especially to those who have been here five or more years and participated extensively in the economy. Should they pay when someone who logs in once a month and buys little or nothing for most of nine or more years got one or more for free?

Therefore I feel people who have been here several years and also made ample contributions to the economy, say for example at least fifty dollars worth in uploads a month and suffered under the Resident last name situation should be given a one time free name change, but future name changes could still be paid for everyone.

Gemma Cleaslate recently stopped by Ce Soir. There, she found an exhibition with a number of artists, “The spring season is our primary inspiration, but artists have been
invited to explore the meaning of AWAKENINGS for themselves. What
inspires, what moves the spirit? What opens the mind and broadens the
horizons? What shakes one free from the doldrums that sometimes come
from a long winter - or other darker time? Consider all - and express it
artistically, using a range of media. Enjoy SPRING AWAKENINGS at Ce
Soir Arts! “

Longtime readers may recall the Duran Duran Universe sims, also known as "The DDU." Khanada, Azizi, Tlon, and Sanhedralite. A project between the music band Duran Duran and their fans, it was opened in 2011 and enjoyed some success, bolstered in part by the band which took interest in Second Life. One example of this was their performance in Hyde Park in the 2012 Olympics.

Several years later, the four sims and their builds, the Lipstick Tower, the Skin Dive, and other places are still up. Besides the Hyde Park concert, they were used to make a few videos. Perhaps they'll get some use soon.

Frets Nirvana and US Military Veterans Group announce 2019’s February for Homes For Our Troops in Second Life!

Frets Nirvana, the premier guitar artist in the virtual world Second Life and the US Military Veterans Group announce the 2019 March benefit in Second Life for the Veterans Support Organization Home For Our Troops .

Frets Nirvana states: “HFOT is a privately funded 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization building specially adapted, mortgage-free homes nationwide for the most severely injured Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of these Veterans are multiple amputees, paraplegic, quadriplegic or suffered severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Since its inception in 2004, over 90 cents of every dollar spent by Homes for Our Troop has gone to directly support Veterans. DURING THAT TIME HFOT HAS BUILT OVER 274 SPECIALLY ADAPTED HOMES NATIONWIDE FOR WOUNDED VETERANS.”

In 2018 the community in Second Life sent over $13,000 to Homes For Our Troops, thanks to may kind hearts and great Second Life performers. HFOT built 34 homes for extremely wounded veterans in 2018. We hope to help them exceed that in 2019!

Home for Our Troops benefit concerts feature premier Second Life talent monthly at Veteran’s Isle. The concert on March 31, 2019 is scheduled from 11 AM to 4 PM PST. Featured artists will be DJ Waya Snowpaw, Erin and Satin, Melenda Baptiste, Wolfie Starfire and Mavenn.

Sponsored by Frets Nirvana and the U.S. Military Veteran’s Group of Second Life. To learn more about Homes for Our Troops visit https://www.hfotusa.org

Illya Leonov, or Morgan Freepony, is well loved for his voice work narrating My Little Pony fanfictions for the pony community and for the library. Of course he also does other voice work such as the audiobooks "Selkies' Skins: Castle and Well" and "Pearls of Sea and Stone: Book of Seals." You can listen to him on his Youtube, his Soundcloud, and usually on Thursdays at 6 PM Pacific/Second Life time in the Trotsdale Library and over his stream.

Right now he needs help handling his medical bills stemming from his fight with cancer. Even if you can't help out financially with a few bits you CAN pass word around about his Gofundme. When a pony like Illya decides it is time to actually start one then that tells us he truly does need help.

While some in Second Life are content with their accomplishments inworld, some strive to make success in real life. GoSpeed Racer, known as a DJ inworld and Internet radio station owner, has taken her hand to writing fiction. Having recently published her third novel, she contacted the Newser. So we sat down, and talked some about her stories.

Second Life has a number of noted musicians. But one has to start somewhere. Looking for someone with dreams of making it big on Second Life and already has been playing live music, Deaflegacy didn't have far to search as her friend Six String has been playing music at one venue, and hopes to find others.

While not an immediate blow to those wishing to express themselves online, there are still a number of steps before the bill becomes law in Europe, the bill is still a threat. Particularly worrisome are Article 11, the "link tax," which could make it impossible for websites such as Wikipedia to function in countries affected, and Article 13 (which has been changed to Article 17) which would require websites and platforms that allow for content to be loaded to install "upload filters" as a preventive measure to stop copyrighted content.

The law is vague and subject to interpretation, but the potential consequences to Second Life are very bad. Linden Lab could be given a stark choice: the instillation of expensive and clumsy upload filters that would certainly anger it's users due to content creation becoming far more difficult if it involves bringing textures and other things into the virtual world and the fees jacked up greatly to make up for Linden Lab's expenses, or block the IP addresses of the affected countries.

The next step for the bill is when it goes to the European Council. While it previously looked like it would pass there easily, "one of two countries responsible for the final wording of Article 13 (/
17) ... Germany is having something of a change of
heart, with their Minister of Justice publicly opposing the idea of
upload filters. ... five other member states – the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Italy,
and Finland – have voiced public opposition to the Directive the vote.
So should Germany, a key nation behind the legislation and of the EU,
change its mind between now and April 9th, it would prevent a Council
majority being reached." This would mean the bill would need to be renegotiated, and activists would have a chance to vote a number of legislators supporting it out of office.

As Inara Pey of Modem World put it, "while a significant battle against the EU Copyright Directive has been
lost," the war's not over yet, but "it is going to be significantly harder to win."

From Snowbuns (Skylark Lefavre). Looking up what this Chibi Noodle Dragon's tag meant, she cane across (https://saveyourinternet.eu/act/). Last September, I had written about the proposed European Union legislation that would mean crippling censorship for the Internet in the countries that passed it, and possibly those countries being blocked from Second Life. Seems the vote is today.

Monday, March 25, 2019

Most everyone wants to know what the future holds in store for them. For Deaflegacy, she pondered over a couple issues. Someone whom offered a few predictions was friend of the Newser Grease Coakes, whom has been doing some tarot card readings. She decided to see what the cards had in store for her.

For fans of Fantasy online comics, there was a treat at Montecito Bay's Avagora shopping mall, the Yinglet avatar release party. What is a Yinglet? They're the small furry folk with a talent for getting in trouble and a taste for clams in the online comic "Out of Placers." So how would the avatar sell in a population of foxes and wolves? At the party, it did pretty well.

There were a number of events this weekend. Among them, the "Celebrating SL Women" event in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators on Saturday from 12 to 2PM SL time, and the joint SL Cheerleading Squad and Safe Water Foundation fundraiser event for the Relay for Life.

The Relay event raised 12,400 Lindens, and put the SLCS over 50,000 Linden dollars raised in total, and into Silver Level. Other events on the weekend included a festival in the ROMA community, and a Relay fundraiser by Cobras MC.

From Disrupt on March 7, "On February 20th, 2019 we put a guy in a headset for 168 hours.
Hosted by: https://twitter.com/jakwilmot." For one week, Jak Wilmont was constantly wearing VR headsets, save the couple seconds it took to change from one to another. While the video doesn't mention Second Life, it does involve virtual worlds.

His response when the challenge is finally over, "Oh my gosh, the graphics are so good."

Tomorrow from 9 am sl to 9 pm sl SLCS will be teaming up with the Merfolk of Safe Waters Foundation for a 12 hours Relay for Life concert. Singers Slated to attend are the following. I have included the LM for the event and bios of all the singers in the NC

Cobras MC is holding a Rally this weekend.Everyone is welcome to join in.Here’s a complete schedule about the whole Cobras Rally weekend :

COBRA BIKE RALLY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS MARCH 22-24

Rally MC tents are free on a strict first come first served basis. Tents and trailers may be claimed from Wednesday March 20 bright and early, There is a 50 prim limit on the free tents provided.If you would like to set out a trailer, you can rent a space by buying the pad for 150L for 100 prims.CONTACT: TAMMY UNDERWOOD OR GAMBIT JENKINS

*Sorry, no child avatars allowed on Cobra sim (Pins), however we are having a Kids Rally on the adjoining sim (Needles) with concerts, a bike show, lots of carnival rides and games and a prize hunt! Below the main schedule is the Kids Rally schedule.

SPONSORS PLEASE CONTACT TAMMY UNDERWOOD

Vendor tents are free to sponsors, however, if not sponsoring, vendor tents are 100L for 50 prims. Purchase the tent to reserve your space.

All GAMES MONEY TO BE SENT TO RELAY FOR LIFE(Kiosks will be available)

Saturday, March 23, 2019

The Limerick contest went well and I am pleased that there were so many submissions. Each participant will receive 25L dispersed from my alt Kirsty (Hanaarashi Resident). The winner will receive an extra dispersal of 1500L as the prize pot was increased over the term of the contest by donations sent to the prize pool.

"I took the freedom to get your very ancient dispenser here and to recreate script to link to your page," YadNi told, then noted that one, the Newser, stood out, "Green dot indicates you are LIVE. I guess you are the only real survivor amongst all those old newspapers I had at the junkyard."

We're still writing away after all those years, still finding reasons to enjoy Second Life, and still telling you about them.

When I took a close look at the site of the UFO crash in Montecito Bay late last month, I expected the flying saucer and what appeared to be either a mannequin or a body that had somehow avoided decay to be taken away soon. And checking the place last weekend, as expected they were gone. But what I didn't expect was finding the site completely repaired and with a new tower that looked like it might have been made by someone not of this Earth.

The top of the structure was surrounded by what looked like a red holographic globe. Besides the structure was some bizarre-looking sculpture and unearthly-looking plants that had glowing leaves. Just beneath the top was a circular band that went around the tower, full of the same kind of symbols that were in club schedule updates prior to the Groundhog Day incident.

There didn't seem to be an obvious way up. I did see a pad that looked a little like those transporter pads in science-fiction shows. A way to the top of the tower? I hesitated to find out.

So what does this all mean? I had a few words with town mayor Lem Aiko (LemonPledge Resident), who told me that "Official statement, it was swamp gas," and wasn't in a position to say more. But he did get me in touch with someone who was willing to speak under a condition of anonymity, saying that they had been told to say nothing by the Feds, "I know what I know, and you saw what you saw. It was indeed E.T. but this time they waged war on our city. I was there when they shot the city up in their UFO's. why would they do that if it wasn't an act of war? We still don't know why the UFO went down, or even why they were here in the first place." Someone with him thought the saucer probably went down due to pilot error, though it was a guess. A second person joked, "I think they were going for the irresistible hot dog cart and totally missed, but that's just me."

Of the strange tower that suddenly went up, "The crazy guy who I made mention of before says the building was a peace offering. He was right last time, I would believe him about that. I just hope they don't do it again. It cost the city millions. That is also why we are redeveloping the area that was bombed. the UFO attack so severely damaged the infrastructure in that part of the city, it's cheaper to completely scrap the design and move on to something new."

Last week on March 16, the Paris 1900 area celebrated it's tenth anniversary. In was in 2009 that this area representing the capital of France at the turn of the last century was formed. The most visible part of the sim is of course the Eiffel Tower, which when built in real life was the first structure to surpass the height of the Great Pyramid of Giza, which had held the record for millennia. Other places in the area include the Arc de Triomphe (Arch of Triumph), the Moulin Rouge, and the Catacombs.

Yours truly didn't see the actual celebration, but the event grounds and signs about it. Among the events there was a Michael Jackson tribute.

Paris 1900 has been the scene of some other celebrations, such as Bastille Day. But not all events there have been happy ones. in January and November 2015, people gathered there to pay their respects to the fallen of two terrorist attacks.

The latest "Second Life Destinations" by Linden Lab puts the spotlight on Insilico, a noted sci-fi roleplay area that also looks visually well-built.

Role-playing
is one of the many ways in which Residents choose to spend their time
in Second Life. From supernatural fairy tales to gothic vampires and
medieval battles, there are long-standing communities and Regions built
around elaborate and rich lores. It is possible to visit any of our over 200 Role-playing communities and find your niche.

“You’re not just there as a bystander … you’re creating worlds.” says Stark Osterham in the video below.

This week’s Destinations video takes a glimpse into InSilico, which is one of the longest running role-playing communities in Second Life.

InSilico
is an immersive, futuristic, cyberpunk world full of interesting
characters who operate beneath a dark, foreboding skyline and airships.
InSilico is a painstakingly detailed space that you will want to
explore, photograph, and you may just find yourself swept into the story
as a participating citizen.

Please Help Me Support the American Cancer Society & Relay For Life of Second Life

Chemotherapy and cancer treatments can cause many side-effects, most commonly hair loss. The Relay Rockers, in support and honor of anyone who has heard the words 'You Have Cancer', offer our hair to help the American Cancer Society Save Lives, Celebrate Lives and Lead the Fight for a World Without Cancer.

As part of the 13th year of Bid Me Bald, I will be shedding my hair in solidarity with these heroes of the fight against cancer.

~~~~ Please Help Me Reach My Goal of L$50,000 and 10 Days Bald!~~~~

My Kiosk can be found at Arinultra Cay (189/44/27) from March 20th until the 27th. Please be generous!

And don't forget to join me on March 27th at 4 pm for a Hair Cutting party at the Barbershop

We have 3 new BID MES up and running at CUTLASS. 1. SHOCKWAVE is offering himself up to go GOAT!2. CYNTHIA: Is offering herself up to go WOLF!3.. BOSS BUNNY: Is offering herself up to the last bidder (NO CHEAP BIDS COUNT), to choose any avatar I have in my inventory, and I will wear for the time bid.

As before, the bids will be made in pairs of kiosks at Club Cutlass, one to keep the volunteer as is, the other.to give him or her a new look for a while. Provided the change kiosk wins, the volunteer has to spend a week in the look for every 3000 Lindens raised.

Talking to Rita about her Bid Me, she was saying she didn't want someone making a tiny bid of five Lindens at the end, saying a final bid of 500 Lindens would be sufficient. Apparently the only limit is that the avatar already be in her inventory. The Bid Me only affects her avatar. Anyone hoping for an "au naturel" bunnygirl will be disappointed to hear she'll keep on being well dressed for events.

From Linden Lab's "Love Made in SL" series, "Age
ain’t nothing but a number for Calisto and Talon Whitewolf, a
U.S.-based couple that met about eight years ago in Second Life. While
Calisto may be about a decade older than her long-time partner, but the
virtual world proved to be the perfect platform to bridge the age gap
and connect the two together in the physical world. The
courtship began with an initial period of flirting and fun across
multiple romantic 3D spaces in Second Life, including a memorable date
on a replica of the Titanic!

“'We
did the whole couples thing,' says Calisto who adds that over time the
signs became more clear that the two were truly meant to be together. As
a result, Talon ultimately moved from his home in Virginia to be with
Calisto in Kentucky. This move is described by Calista as a 'natural
progression…We were best friends and then the next thing I know - he’s
here!'

"To
learn more about Calisto and Talon’s story, watch the latest episode of
“Love Made in SL” below. You can also learn more about dating in Second
Life in this recent article on DatingNews.com, too."

This coming Saturday, March 23, is the date for our 2nd annual Celebrating SL Women. Avalon Bouvier will DJ as we honor the following women who have made Second Life a better place through their contributions. This event features honorees from all walk of Second Life, representing women who bring amazing work and creativity to our shared worlds. We hope to have Citizens, friends and fans to greet and honor our honorees, and to celebrate SL Women! Join us, and watch for updates!

Last month, Rita Mariner wrote about the sequel to the popular aquatic survival game Subnautica, "Subnautica: Below Zero." Since then, the early-access game has continued to develop, and Rita's continued to play, noticing both the changes and the deeper sea levels that getting better equipment has allowed her to do. So she decided to write once again about the game.

The beach club of the community where the Newser office makes it's home has just gotten a new look. It's a shiny look that's gotten complements. But who's the person behind the build? Deaflegacy went out to interview the woman behind the renovation: Jasmine Dawn. She also had a few words with owner Nydia Tungsten.

From Second Life Destinations on Friday March 15. The Blarney Stone is a pub located in the appropriately named Dublin sim at (81/81/25). While the biggest crowd is on St. Patrick's Day, it's open all year and has a few events a weel.

With Facebook having a less than friendly policy toward account users whom would prefer to use their online name rather than their legal real-life name, some Second Life users have sought alternatives. Among then was "Second Friends," created by musician Mankind Tracer (real-life name Seth Regan). But last week on March 14, Seth announced he was no longer keeping it running. It's Facebook group however would remain.

My Dear Second Friend,

I have decided after a bunch of years to close down Second Friends. I want to thank you personally for helping create our wonderful SL community on the SF social network.

It's been almost three years since the Happy Vixen, the beach club of the Sunweavers/Angels community, was last redesigned. But in recent months, there have been some events in which the club's dance floor was quite a bit crowded. So club owner Nydia Tungsten got together with Jasmine Dawn, whom had done the last few renovations, as well as the Halloween builds. So last Friday and Saturday, Jasmine went to work. And on Sunday at 6PM, the club was ready for it's Sunday events.

Besides a larger dance floor, a glowly one that won't cause peoples' tails to look transparent, the club has a hot tub for relaxing in, seating for people, a dragon seating area, and more. There is still a little more work to do. Later on, the games that people played at the old Happy Vixen between events will be placed.

The two events that night were "Angels," made with Nydia's "Angels" group in mind, with DJ Snowbuns, and "Best in Green/St. Patricks Day" with DJ Squeaks. Valerie Casetti (llodea Resident) won the first event. For the St. Patrick's event, MaliitCoyote Resident and Kragon Vlodovic split the 1500 Linden dollar prize.

The Happy Vixen has events most of the week, the schedule that can be viewed in SL Clubbin'.

There was some sad news late last week. On Friday March 15, the Urban Furry club had it's last events. It had been owned by Whiskey (Thorrin Resident), and was located in Mystic Timberland. The club had been running for over a year, and was a member of the Furry Club Alliance. Probably it's best event was the "Furry Prom" which was attended by over fifty people at one point.

Talking around, it seems the cause of the club's shutdown was real-life schedule changes with the owner and much of the rest of the staff that made running events harder, plus questions if they had the finances to keep it running long term. Thorin did say, "I'll be back. This isn't the end of me," and has plans for something new when things calm down in real life.

Monday, March 18, 2019

Before automobiles, people got around either on foot or by horse. Even today when many people go weeks or months without seeing one, horses are still a big part of our culture such as engines measured in "horsepower," expressions such as "never look a gift horse in the mouth," and of course our stories such as cowboys always being near their horses. So it was probably inevitable people would bring horses to Second Life. Several years ago, breedable pet horses came about. And it became possible to raise them here. Deaflegacy, who owns a few horses, recently interviewed one horse breeder, Kitacelia. She had a few questions about raising horses here in the virtual world.

For most of its history, Mankind was at the mercy of the environment while having little impact on it. While Man could occasionally cause ecological damage, it was on a local level. But in the past century, it's become more obvious more powerful tools made possible by recent technologies in addition to more humans on the planet are having an impact on the global ecology. The question is, how much? Klaus Bereznyak recently went to InterstellART and saw EcoScape, an art exhibition with works from eight different artists about environmental issues. So what did the exhibits show?

The Home and Garden Expo, one of the larger events of the Relay for Life in Second Life, is taking place in several temporary sims south of American Cancer Society. But the one getting the most attention is the Linden Homes Preview sim as like the name suggests, people can check up on what the soon to be available set of Linden Homes look like.

Not all of the Linden Homes will be on dry land. Some will be houseboats parked at docks.

According to Inara Pey and Daniel Voyager, what was assumed about the SSP continent is true. It will be the location of the new Linden homes. It's opening is described as "weeks" away. The plan is to rename it "Bellisseria" and place it between two other continents to form a larger mass of contiguous sims that one can walk/fly/drive from one end to another without the need for teleports.

As with the other Linden Homes, these are available only to Premium Residents, and obtaining them will be done via a webpage. As the new Linden Homes are occupied, the smaller landmasses where the older ones are will be dismantled once they're empty of residents.

Last month, Team Sunbeamers, the Relay for Life team for the Sunweaver community, started it's first two events: "Bid Me Human" and "Bid Me Goat," with yours truly Bixyl Shuftan and fellow vulpine Liska Fuchs as the volunteers. On Friday March 15 at 8PM, team captain Rita Mariner calculated the totals at Club Cutlass.

So it looks like Liska will be dealing with a few "buck stops here" jokes and yours truly will be furless, at least for a few weeks. Being a journalist however, I can switch back to my usual self when doing an interview, or something else related to the paper. But other times, I'm without the pointed ears and tail.

And yes, it's not the same human avatar after the first couple "Bid Me Human" events. I figured two rounds of "Blazing Saddles" jokes was enough, so went with an Asian avie instead.

In the meantime, the fundraising by Team Sunbeamers continues. There will soon be another round of "Bid Me" volunteers. The team itself has climbed to almost 64,000 Lindens, passing the halfway mark to Gold. After that is Platinum, in which I appear as something special for a week. The first couple times, it was a look I hadn't gone about before. What will it be this time? You'll see.